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No rebound out of Nuggets' reach

Faried, Denver dominating glass

By Benjamin Hochman The Denver Post

Posted:
11/20/2012 09:51:12 PM MST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Robin Lopez is the Hornets' starting center. Seven-footer Andrea Bargnani plays more than 34 minutes per game for Toronto. Forward Michael Beasley averages 30 minutes for the Suns. And the Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova averaged 8.8 rebounds per game just a season ago.

All four of these players average fewer rebounds per game this season than Kenneth Faried averages offensive rebounds.

The Nuggets' power forward is grabbing 5.7 offensive boards per game, best in the NBA. And teammate JaVale McGee averages three, the second most of any player not averaging 20 minutes.

Add it up and the Nuggets lead the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (16.8), more than two ahead of the second-place Lakers (14.1).

"I think it starts with me, personally. The way I go, I go so hard, I keep going to the offensive rebound," said Faried, who is averaging 14.0 points and 11.3 rebounds. "And if I'm not getting it, at least one of my teammates can try to get it, so I tip it up or tip it out. There's a lot of pride in it, and we try to be the best at what we do."

Oh, and the Nuggets lead the league in total rebounding, too, as might be expected. In nine of their first 11 games, Denver (5-6) has outrebounded its opponent, which makes it surprisingly its record isn't any better. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Nuggets are 68-21 when they win the rebounding battle.

Watching a Nuggets game can be entertaining even if one watches only Faried, an athletic, energetic player.

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Occasionally his outstretched 7-foot wingspan isn't long enough to corral the ball but he has shown a presence of mind to slap or tip the ball rather than try and grab a rebound he can't corral. This doesn't guarantee a teammate will get it but it at least guarantees the guy he's fighting for the ball won't get it.

After Monday's impressive win at Memphis, in which the Nuggets had 21 offensive rebounds, the Grizzlies' Rudy Gay said, "They outworked us. They outplayed us. They crushed us on the boards and that is usually not like us."

Of players who are averaging 20 or more minutes, Faried and McGee trail only the Lakers Jordan Hill in offensive rebound percentage, which is the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player gets while on the floor.

"Me and Kenneth work so hard on the offensive boards because basically that's how we're going to get our points," said McGee. "We have to get (points) however we can. So we really go hard on the offensive boards."

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